Vehicle-seat.



El HI VEHICLE SEAT. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 3, 1908.

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Patented Aug. 3, 1909. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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VEHICLE-SE AT.

Application filed December 3, 1908.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 3, 1909.

Serial No. 465,789.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD HALL FAILE, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in thecounty and State of New York, have invented a new and ImprovedVehicle-Seat, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to certain improvements in double-seatedvehicles, and more particularly to the construction of the rear seat ofmotor vehicles.

I am aware that carriages have been designed in which there are employeda front seat and a rear seat, the latter of which may be secured inosition for use or may be moved forward y to partially telescope withthe front seat and present the appearance of a single-seated vehicle.

In my improved construction, the rear seat bottom is rlgidly supportedwhen in operative position and no jarring or shaking of the body andseat can accidentally loosen or dis lodge it from its operativeposition. The space beneath the rear seat is unencumbered so that it maybe used for storage purposes. The seat bottom may be moved to operativeposition independently of the back or sides of the seat and when in itsfolded or lowered position may constitute a guide for the back and sidesof the seat during portion of the movement of the latter and may alsoserve to close the entrance opening in the side of the vehicle bodyintermediate the two seats.

My improved body and seat may be constructed as hereinafter described,to embody all of these features, but it is evident that various of thesefeatures may be employed independently of the others.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures, and in which Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a vehicle having a body and seat constructed in accordancewith my invention; the rear seat being shown in solid lines in itsinoperative position and in dotted lines in its operative position; Fig.2 is a longitudinal section through the vehicle body and seats, the rearseat being shown in operative position in solid lines and in inoperativeposition in dotted lines; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the vehicle asshown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line 4;-1 ofFig. 3 but on the same scale as Fig. 2.

In the specific form illustrated I employ a vehicle body or box 10, towhich is secured a front seat including a seat proper or cushion 11, anupholstered back 12 and u holstered sides 13. This front seat is preferaly rigidly secured to the vehicle body and need not vary in its mainfeatures of construction from the front seat ordinarily employed ontwoseated automobiles. The cushion 11of the front seat is supported on adeck board or top 14, which forms the top of the storage space beneaththe seat and is in substantially the same horizontal plane as the deckboard or top 15 of the rear portion of the body. These two deck portionsare spaced apart to accommodate the occupants of the rear seat, and thebody beneath the deck or top may be subdivided by a partition 16, toform separate chambers or compartments.

The rear seat includes a cushion or bottom 17, an upholstered backportion 18 and side portions 19, which last-mentioned may be onlylightly upholstered. The cushion or seat bottom 17 is secured at itsfront edge to the rear back portion 15 by suitable hinges 20, andincludes a deck portion 21 adapted to be superposed on the deck portion15 when the seat is in operative position, and adapted to extend intoalinement with the deck portions 15 and 1 1 and fill the openingtherebetween when the seat is swung forwardly on the hinges 20 and intoinoperative position. With the rear seat in the position indicated inFigs. 1 and 3 and in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the portion of the bodyback of the front seat presents a smooth uninterrupted deck or top. Therear seat bottom includes not only the cushion 17 and the deck portion21, but also includes end bars 22 lying substantially in the samevertical plane as the side walls 23 of the body. These side walls of thebody intermediate the hinges 20 and the front seat, are cut away to formopenings 24, to facilitate the entrance of passengers to the rear seatof the car. The end bars or pieces 22 of the rear seat are of a shapeand size corresponding to the openings or cutaway portions of the sideWalls of the body, so that when the rear seat is swung forwardly toinoperative position, these side pieces Will fit between the two backs.

and fill the entrance openings of the side of the body, and togetherwith the deck portion 21, form a tight closure for the chamber withinthe body.

The back and sides of the rear seat are formed rigid in respect to eachother and have sliding engagement with the body. The sides 19 are aslightly greater distance apart than the sides 13 of the front seat, sothat when the sides and back of the rear seat are slid forwardly, theback and side portions of the two seats may telescope with the back ofthe rear seat in engagement with the back of the front seat and thesides of the rear seat in engagement with the outer surface of the sidesof the front seat, substantially as illustrated in Fig. 3. The upperedges of the back and sides of one of the seats, preferably the frontseat, extend out and are so disposed as to overhang the upper edges ofthe back and sides of the other seat and partially conceal the latter.This also prevents the admission of rain, snow, dust and other foreignsubstances to the space The deck portion 15 of the body is provided withrunners, tracks, or guideways 24 upon its upper surface adjacent itsopposite side edges, for supporting the sides and back of the rear seatand facilitating their sliding movement. These guideways or tracks arepreferably, formed of metal and have a groove 25 in their outer verticalfaces into which extend corresponding flanges carried by the sides 19 ofthe rear seat, substantially as shown in cross section in Fig. 4. Thesides ofthe rear seat extend down a slight distance below the plane ofthe deck or top of the body, and the flanges 26 extend inwardly at aslight distance above the lower edges of said sides. The deck portion 21constituting a portion of the bottom of the rear seat, has tracks orguides 27 identical with the tracks or guides 24 of the deck portion 15,and they are so disposed that when the rear seat is in inoperativeposition, the guides 24 are in direct alinement with the guides ortracks 27. When the seat is in operative position as indic'ated in Fig.2, the guides 27 rest directly upon the guides 24 throughout the lengthof the former and constitute a firm and rigid support for the seatthroughout the entire length of the latter along each end thereof. Thedeck portion 14 disposed beneath the front seat, is provided with tracksor guide ways 28, as indicated in Fig. 4, so as to receive the flangesor supports 25 of the rear seat when the latter is slid forwardly to itslimiting position. The sides and back of the rear seat may be held inposition in any suitable manner, but as indicated the sides are providedwith depending hinged bolts 29, which may enter either of the separateretainers 30 or 31. These two retainers are so disposed as to facilitatethe locking of the sides and back of the rear seat in either one of itstwo limiting positions.

One very im ortant feature of my invention is the free cm of movement ofthe bottom of the rear seat when the sides and back of the rear seat aretelescoped with the front seat and locked in position. As will be notedparticularly in Fig. 2, the deck portion 14 terminates at a distanceback of the rear surface of the back of the front seat substantiallyequivalent to the thickness of the back of the rear seat. Thus, when theback and sides of the rear seat are moved forwardly to the limitingposition, they pass over the bottom of the rear seat and out ofengagement therewith. The bottom of the rear seat may now be returned tooperative position, so as to provide a seat for temporary use or for afootman. There are no catches, hooks, or looks for holding the bottom ofthe rear seat in operative position as it acts simply from gravity. Inmoving it to inoperative position, it must swing through an arc of onehundred and eighty degrees about a stationary pivot, and when inoperative position, it looks the back and sides of the rear seat againstforward movement. When the rear seat is in operative position, it canscarcely be detected from the rear seat of an ordinary twoseatedvehicle, while when in its forward or inoperative position, it presentsa neat ap pearance and its presence can hardly be noticed. The vehiclecan be converted from a single-seated to a double-seated one ina veryshort space of time and no special tools or skill is required.

If desired, the back and sides of the rear seat may be entirely removedand left at home, so that the vehicle will appear no different than anordinary single-seated vehicle with a body behind the front seat; then,if it is desired to provide an additional seat temporarily, the bottomor cushion of the rear seat may be raised and swung into operativeposition and employed, even though the back and sides of the seat areentirely absent. As shown, the ends of the cushion or seat proper closethe opening or doorway in the side of the wagon body, but it is evidentthat if the seat or cushion be made slightly shorter, a swinging doormay be used for closing this opening, the same as in the commonconstructions.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent,-

1. A vehicle body having a front seat and a movable rear seat includinga seat bottom and a seat back, said seat bottom having a fixed supportand hinged at its front edge to swing forwardly to ino erative position,and said seat back being shdable forwardly over said bottom to aposition adjacent said front seat when said seat bottom is ininoperative position.

A vehicle body having a front seat and l tioned opening, and means forclosing said a movable rear seat lncludlng a seat bottom j sideopenings.

and a seat back, said seat bottom being supported independently of saidseat back and hinged at its front edge to swing forwardly to inoperativeposition, and said seat back being slidable forwardly over said bottomto a position adjacent said front seat and beyond the front edge of saidseat bottom when the latter is in inoperative position to permit thereturn movement of said bottom to operative position.

3. A vehicle body having a front seat, a stationary top or deck in therear thereof and spaced therefrom to leave an opening, and a rear seatincluding a seat bottom normally superposed upon said top or deck andsup ported thereby and movable to close said opening, and a seat backslidable forwardly over said deck and bottom to a position adjacent saidfront seat.

4. A vehicle body having a front seat, a stationary substantiallyhorizontal to or deck in the rear thereof and spaced t ore from to leavean opening, and a rear seat including a seat bottom normally su )portedby said top or deck and substantially parallel thereto and hinged to thefront edge of said deck to swing forwardly into the plane of said top ordeck to close said opening, and a seat back slidable forwardly over saiddeck and bottom to a position adjacent said front seat.

5. A vehicle body having a front seat, a stationary top or deck in therear thereof and spaced therefrom to leave an opening, sides, eachhaving an opening therein in the rear of said front seat, and a rearseat including a seat bottom having end ieces in the planes of saidsides, said seat ottom being normaily superposed upon said top or deckand movable to closesaid first-mentioned opening and to bring said endpieces into said side openings, to close the latter, and a seat backsupported independently of the seat bottom and movable to an inoperativeposition.

6. A vehicle having a front seat, a body in the rear thereof and havinga stationary deck or top spaced from the front seat to leave an openingand having the sides cut away to leave side openings, a rear seat backmounted to slide forwardly over said first-mentioned opening to aposition adjacent said front seat, a rear seat ottom movable toinoperative position to close said first-men- 7. A vehicle body having afront seat, a rigid deck board or top, a rear seat bottom hingedthereto, and a rear seat having sliding engagement with said deck boardor top and movable over said seat bottom to a po sition adjacent saidfront seat.

8. A vehicle body having guides or tracks at the upper portion thereofadjacent oppo site sides, a seat having guides or tracks, said seatbeing movable to bring its guides or tracks into alinement with thefirst-mentioned guides or tracks, and a seat back movable along saidguides when the latter are in alinement.

9. A vehicle body having a top or deck board, guides or tracks extendingalong said top or deck board adjacent opposite sides, a seat bottommovable to inoperative posi tion, and a seat back movable over saidbottom and along said tracks.

10. A vehicle body having a seat bottom movable to inverted position andhaving a track or guide on the under side thereof, a seat back and meansfor supporting the same independently of said bottom, said seat backbeing movable off of said supporting means and along said track tooperative or inoperative positions when said seat is inverted.

11. A vehicle body provided with a front seat having grooves in theouter surface of its ends, a rear seat having a bottom movable to inoerative position, and a back and sides rovided with inwardly directedflanges movable along said grooves and independently of the movement ofsaid bottom.

12. A vehicle body provided with a front seat having grooves in its endsconstituting a track, a box having a track along opposite edges adjacentthe upper surface, and a rear seat having a seat bottom and a back, saidseat bottom being adapted to be inverted and having a track on its undersurface in alinement with the first-mentioned tracks when said seat isinverted, said seat back being movable along said tracks.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD HALL FAILE.

Witnesses:

CLAIR WV. FAIRBANK, G. F. GUNTHER.

